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Scheherezade

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Everything posted by Scheherezade

  1. Richard LH, don’t be confused - not completely, not even a little bit - because you are absolutely right. Mind you, by that point I was confused too so it wasn’t just you.
  2. Thanks for picking that up, and that will teach me to check what I’ve written before posting. I actually meant to say she had to miss Vadim and Fumi but was totally wowed by Alex and Frankie. 😅
  3. I haven’t posted re Saturday evening’s Manon but wanted to say a big thank you to the fairy godmother that magicked up tickets for me and a friend who had to miss Vadim and Frankie through illness. I was so glad to have the chance to see one of Alex‘s last two performances and that he was dancing with Frankie - many happy memories of their other performances together - and it lived up to and surpassed all my expectations. Alex always brings something different to his performances and Saturday was no exception. His Act 1 DG wasn’t going to be pushed around by Lescaut and his earlier Act 1 solos also showed someone who knew his own mind, something that he carried into Act 2 where, despite his dejection, it was always clear that he wasn’t going to give up on Manon or be pushed aside by the competition. As with the other casts - and they have all been so good it is really hard to choose a favourite - the heartbreak grew to a devastating Act 3 climax and one that was propelled both by DG’s determination to bring Manon to safety and the wonderful chemistry and mutual trust shared by him and Frankie, whose Manon was utterly breathtaking. The standing ovation from where I was standing was pretty much instantaneous - I had to move to an aisle to see any of the curtain calls - and I’d agree with the posters who suggested that it didn’t seem to be the response of a partisan fan crowd there to say their farewells. So glad and yet so sad. I can’t believe I will never see Alex dance again at the RB or see him and Frankie dance together again. Too soon! Too soon by far!
  4. I thought he was really starting to come into his own just before his last injury. Having always enjoyed him in the virtuoso roles, and following on from his performances in LWFC where for me he totally stole the show, it came as something of a surprise to me just how good his Siegfried was in the last SL run.
  5. Hi Jacky. If the ticket is still free, I would like it. Will PM.
  6. I’d say it sounds very much the cup of tea of the newspaper reviewers. Less so mine.
  7. I never get the offers. I have always assumed that it’s because I don’t buy expensive tickets and it doesn’t bother me particularly because even the discounted prices are more than I would generally be prepared to pay but there could be that time, and I do feel that it really isn’t good enough to offer discounts to selected individuals only. They should be offered to all Friends and to everyone else who regularly buys tickets. They have our details, what’s the difficulty here?
  8. Personally, I'd rather have a website that worked without hiccups from the outset than one that told me what I already knew.
  9. Wasn't that wonderful! And why can't we have more of the same/similar?
  10. I have a lot of respect for what Tamara Rojo has achieved but honouring much loved retirees does seem a matter of common courtesy.
  11. Yes, he's someone else with a strong and appealing stage presence.
  12. Thus is so true! Far too much time wasted going from one date to another searching out seats that turn out to be unavailable and losing others in the process.
  13. This does sound wonderfully civilised. Hoping your return leg is just as good.
  14. Nogoat, I do hope that you send your post to the ROH. Each and every one of the points that you make should be addressed - and satisfactorily addressed- by way of a reasoned and informative response, not dismissive corporate-speak which, lets face it, is either patronising, insulting or both. And if you wish others to add their names before approaching the ROH, I will be more than happy to provide mine.
  15. Yes, over the last couple of seasons he has evolved into the ‘complete’ performer. The sheer beauty informing his flawless technique has always been on another level but after his Rudolf in the last Mayerling run and now this DG, Vadim is delivering masterclasses in dramatic interpretation too. For which I think we should add a massive bravo to the coaches, too.
  16. Back home from Manon and what can I say that hasn’t already been said so eloquently by everyone who has already posted. Although the fact that I am still sitting here, four hours later, should in itself say plenty. Fumi’s debut was just extraordinary and she carried us with her with every sublime, nuanced step - from the excitement of her reunion with Lescaut in the courtyard to the horror of her death in the swamp. There was never any doubt that this Manon loved Des Grieux and that in itself made us love her more. I was in the camp that couldn’t quite make my mind up about Vadim’s Des Grieux in Act 1. I wouldn’t say it was lack of engagement; more like diffidence. But, my goodness, he had me by Act 2 - the adoration, the passion, the lack of comprehension, the hurt. And by the end, I had my heart ripped into little pieces. It was unbelievable, utterly wonderful and totally unforgettable.
  17. Absolutely. It was that all too rare humanity that shone through everything he did.
  18. If no takers by 2.00 pm for Manon this evening, will return this SCS £14 ticket to the box office.
  19. Have there ever been so many tributes, so wide ranging or so richly deserved? He will be so, so deeply missed. The space that he leaves on the ROH stage is not one that will easily be filled.
  20. Four very different pieces and I enjoyed them all. Two of them I would be happy to see again. They were the two pieces in the second half. Of the first half, Boundless, for me, had more promise than delivery. It's sharp, spiky attack sat well on the music but was insufficiently varied; some of the movements felt a little awkward; and it seemed to me that Gemma Bond was less comfortable working with the slower parts of the score. Naghdi and Hirano were outstanding - something of a given - and brought integrity and chemistry to the stage, and the rest of the cast impressed throughout. I would like to see what some pruning and revisions could achieve as the parts that did work, worked really well. Although, unlike Joshua Junker, the music used in Never Known was not something that I would listen to by choice, I felt that it was an excellent choice for what he was looking to achieve, and whilst the overall effect might be said to be somewhat derivative - well what isn't? - I enjoyed the rolling, somnolent nature of the movement far more than I thought I would. That said, this is not the type of choreography that, for me, bears repeated viewing as I find it hard to imagine that it would reveal anything new to me. I came to For What it's Worth somewhat biased since I have enjoyed pretty much everything of Mthuthuzeli November's work that I have previously seen. I find him an intelligent choreographer and a consummate storyteller and this piece was no exception. I loved the music, the colour, the performances - Mayara Magri was compelling and it was good to see Leo Dixon, whose stage presence always draws the eye, take a more central role. Africa is a continent that I love and I certainly felt Africa in this piece. Yes, I would be happy to see it again and couldn't we commission more work from the never less than enjoyable Mr November? I would also happily see Twinkle again and cannot understand the bitchy disapproval shown by some of the critics. It was charming, witty, visually and aurally pleasing. It played to the strengths of the wonderful RB dancers (Bracewell's lyricism and that captivating quality that Kaneko brings to everything she does), and it was gloriously and undeniably ballet. More of the same, please. What's not to love?
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